“The Marvel Universe Was Top Of Our List”: Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s Director On Following TMNT And Adapting One Of Marvel’s Darkest Stories
More than two years ago, I sat down with Tribute Games director Frederic Gemus to chat about the upcoming Dimension Shellshock DLC for TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge. Since the expansion looked to be the end of the incredible Turtle brawler (even though it wasn’t), I asked Gemus what dream project he and the team would like to work on in the future. His answer? X-Men.
I had no idea at the time that Tribute had already started talking about and actively pitching its next big game, one that wasn’t far off from the academy of superhero mutants – Marvel Cosmic Invasion.
“When we were at Gamescom [2023], that’s when we started having more serious conversations with Marvel and Dotemu,” Gemus tells me. “We were trying to see which universe would recapture the same global phenomenon that we had with TMNT. Obviously, when you try to go from there and figure out which universe would be the best to tackle what we do, the Marvel universe was top of our list.”
While working on post-launch content for Shredder’s Revenge, Tribute approached Marvel Games and pitched the idea of an arcade beat ‘em up, which initially surprised them but quickly made sense as a “perfect” addition to the lineup. Gemus notes that Marvel Games has dabbled in many genres, from multiplayer hero shooters like Rivals to single-player action adventures like Spider-Man and tactical RPGs a la Midnight Suns, making a classic arcade throwback fit right into this burgeoning portfolio.
“I was mind-blown myself, because [narrative designer] Yannick Belzil and I are the biggest Marvel fans,” Gemus says. “So just having the chance to pitch a project and have discussions was amazing for us. Finding a way to capture their interest and have them be interested in working with us was a dream come true.”
Living Up To Shredder’s Revenge
Although Marvel Cosmic Invasion wouldn’t be announced for another few years after those talks, it’s safe to say that most of us were immediately sold on the idea of a Marvel beat ‘em up from Tribute. Even if you’re not TMNT-pilled like me, Shredder’s Revenge is widely considered to be one of the best brawlers out there, and one that played a key part (alongside Streets of Rage 4) in reviving the genre for a modern audience.
That enormous legacy will undoubtedly help Cosmic Invasion in the long run, but it also raises the bar significantly for Tribute, which is now following up on the game that put the studio on the map. Gemus is aware of those expectations, but says the team didn’t necessarily worry about living up to the same heights as TMNT, and just wanted to make a similarly fun brawler with its own flavour.
“Obviously, we don’t start these projects saying we’re going to underdeliver,” Gemus laughs. “You always want to improve and make something better, but I try not to think too much about living up to the hype – hype is great because it tells you that you’re doing the right thing, but if you get too focused on it, it can be overwhelming, especially for a small team. The interesting thing for us as developers is trying not to reinvent the wheel, but always bringing new ideas to the table. We didn’t want to do a reskin of Shredder’s Revenge.”
Hype is great because it tells you that you’re doing the right thing, but if you get too focused on it, it can be overwhelming, especially for a small team. – Frederic Gemus
Crafting A Balanced Roster Of Icons And Deep Cuts
One of the main ways that Cosmic Invasion sets itself apart from other brawlers is the Galactus-sized roster of 15 characters, a huge undertaking for a pixel art game with such detailed animations. This extensive line-up shaped what kind of game Cosmic Invasion would be, with the introduction of flying characters influencing the arenas and types of enemies, but it also came with its fair share of challenges.
As Gemus hinted at earlier, the Marvel universe is a cultural phenomenon, making it hard to pick just 15 characters to represent the game. During development, the team knew it wanted a big cast and that all of the characters had to play differently while staying true to their roots, such as Captain America throwing his shield and Spider-Man thwipping his webs. The real difficulty came from balancing the more obvious picks with the more unexpected inclusions.
“Everyone has their favourites, so you need to have a balanced roster of iconic characters,” Gemus notes. “But at the same time, we wanted to have deeper cuts and more surprising characters as well. When you pick up a comic book, and there’s a team shot, there are always a few characters in there you’re not familiar with, research, and come out thinking they’re pretty cool. That’s how we wanted to approach it, by bringing lesser-known characters into the mix.”
One example of this is Nova (complete with his glorious ‘90s mullet), who isn’t as recognisable as Iron Man and Wolverine, but is a fairly popular pick with comic book audiences and the tens of Ultimate Spider-Man fans. Nova acts as both the game’s main character when it comes to its Annihilation-inspired narrative and its gameplay, thanks to his Ryu-esque jack of all trades fighting style.
Since Nova has made plenty of appearances outside the comics, perhaps an even better example of Cosmic Invasion’s deep cuts is Beta Ray Bill, a much lesser-known character who really is one for the diehards. Gemus acknowledges that most fans would expect Thor to be in the game instead, but that’s exactly why the team went in another direction.
“Thor’s had many video game incarnations before, while Beta Ray Bill doesn’t have so many,” Gemus points out. “There’s no strong game that you can point to for how he plays, so we thought it would be fun to take him instead and define what the action game version of Beta Ray Bill would be. So if you see him later in another game, maybe he’s going to be kind of inspired by our game.”
Giving One Of Marvel’s Darkest Tales The Tribute Treatment
Beta Ray Bill, Phyla-Vell, and Cosmic Ghost Rider aren’t the only surprise inclusions in Cosmic Invasion, though, as big bad Annihilus isn’t exactly the villain that jumps to most people’s minds when you think of Marvel. While plenty powerful in his own right and a classic baddie for Fantastic Four fans, Annihilus hasn’t really seen much attention in mainstream Marvel media.
As it turns out, the decision to feature Annihilus as the main villain of Cosmic Invasion and adapt the Annihilation arc from the comics actually came from Marvel Games directly. During early development on the project, Tribute knew it wanted to make a Marvel game, but hadn’t set in stone many of the finer details.
“The first discussions we had with Marvel were mostly general,” Gemus says. “We didn’t want to go to them, saying this is exactly the game and storyline. We had ideas, but we went there with an open mind, and they were actually the ones that brought up the Annihilation storyline. That story is a bit dark, but Marvel said it’s one of the storylines that was big and never got adapted.”
Annihilus isn’t the only villain in Marvel Cosmic Invasion, as it also features characters like Thanos, Beetle, and others I won’t spoil. The decision-making process behind which baddies got to be in the game was apparently just as tough as for the playable heroes.
For a team that’s mostly set on delivering nostalgia-fuelled arcade vibes, Annihilation’s planetary devastation was a bit of a tonal shift and a tough sell. Luckily, Gemus and narrative designer Yannick Belzil found a way to both make an adaptation work and give the team unlimited access to all types of heroes.
“We came up with the idea that the Annihilation Wave struck in the ‘90s cartoon era of the Marvel universe, where everything was fun and great,” Gemus reveals. “Marvel said that was perfect and exactly what it needed. That way, we can have a bunch of Earth heroes as well as cosmic deep cuts that didn’t exist back then, like Cosmic Ghost Rider.”
We came up with the idea that the Annihilation Wave struck in the ‘90s cartoon era of the Marvel universe. – Frederic Gemus
Addressing The Big Thing (Or Lack Thereof) In The Room
Although the Annihilation comic focuses on Nova dealing with Annihilus, most Marvel fans would probably attribute the villain as a nemesis to the Fantastic Four. It’s almost greedy to expect more characters from an already stacked roster, but Marvel’s first family do stick out as a bit of a surprise omission considering their recent debut in the MCU and ties to the game’s big bad.
When I asked Gemus about this, he admitted that the team did consider the Fantastic Four during discussions about the roster, but ultimately focused more on the comic and giving Nova the spotlight. One of the big things with the Fantastic Four is that they work together, so Tribute didn’t want to stuff too much FF into the game, especially with Silver Surfer acting as a quasi-rep.
“It was a discussion for sure, and we tried to stick more closely to the comics on that point, Gemus notes. “For the future, we’re just really focused on delivering the launch, but, as we do all the time, we’ll see the reactions and what people think of the game. Do they like it? Do they want more? We’ll see, maybe we will. We’re definitely open to the idea for sure.”
For now, it’s not clear whether Cosmic Invasion will end up getting DLC, but Gemus was very careful about not being too specific on characters who almost made it, which I’m taking as close to a hint as possible. That being said, Gemus did tell me that Cosmic Invasion almost had the classic Punisher on the roster before Marvel Games suggested Cosmic Ghost Rider, an alternate universe Francis ‘Frank’ Castle who crawled out of Hell to try to kill and then redeem baby Thanos. Yes, that’s real.
Cosmic Invasion’s Tag-Team Mechanic Wasn’t Inspired By Marvel Vs. Capcom
Outside of the big roster of heroes and villains, the other ace up Cosmic Invasion’s sleeve is its Cosmic Swap mechanic, which lets you create a team of two heroes and switch them up on the fly. The second half of your dynamic duo can also assist you with special moves, which, when combined with the aesthetic, have drawn a lot of comparisons to Marvel vs. Capcom.
While Gemus admits that the tag-team mechanic might seem like it comes from Marvel’s “legacy of arcade games”, that’s actually not how it originated. After the team decided on 15 characters as the Cosmic’s first big swing for beat ‘em ups, they knew each one had to be varied enough to justify such a big roster. That meant having a range of flying heroes, ranged attackers, and even some who use grabs, usually a staple of beat ‘em ups.
Gemus’ favourite team-up in the game is Storm and Wolverine, which is much more interesting than my tag-team of Captain America and Rocket Raccoon.
“Making sure that everyone was focused on a playstyle really helped us make great characters, but at the same time, we felt that it could be a bit overwhelming for players,” Gemus tells me. “When you get to that 15-character roster screen, you’re like, ‘Oh, who should I pick?’, and maybe they’re worried that there’s a bad pick for certain stages. So we thought, what if we just give you two characters? This way, you can basically mix and match different play styles and build your own toolset to address challenges.”
While Marvel vs. Capcom wasn’t really a point of inspiration for the tag team mechanics, I’m not the only one who thought so, as Gemus says that newcomers to the team pointed out the similarity as well, even if it was never the intention to be marked as a “spiritual sequel to any other Marvel arcade game”. That being said, Gemus thinks that the MvC team likely had a similar thought process as Tribute did when adapting the Marvel universe, and he’s happy if it manages to recapture some of that same magic.
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion
Released
December 1, 2025
Developer(s)
Tribute Games Inc.
Multiplayer
Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op
Franchise
Marvel
Number of Players
1-4 players
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